Office Affairs
by Companions Aren't Whores
Summary: Eventually Mulder looked at Scully with an idea. "Scully, you like science, how about we do a little experiment..." She looked at him skeptically. "How about we trick people into thinking we're together and see how long it takes someone to ask you?"


"Ugh look at them." spat Mulder. It was a Tuesday afternoon and Mulder was sat at his temporary desk assigned to him after the basement had flooded, surrounded by other FBI agents.

Scully sat down opposite him and handed him his paper cup of coffee. "Look at who?" Mulder nodded his head at two agents clearly flirting, oblivious to the fact that everyone in the department could see the exchange. "So people are happy, what's the problem?"

"He's married." Mulder took a sip of his coffee and started typing again, occasionally glancing up to see if the two lovebirds had gotten over themselves.

Scully, meanwhile, had stopped short of sipping her tea and had drawn her attention instead to the man in the fitted white shirt and navy blue tie. Coincidentally the (much) younger female agent was wearing a skirt of the same navy blue..."How long has he been married?" she asked.

"He had just come back from his honeymoon when we moved in here 2 months ago but he'd been with his wife for a few years before that." said Mulder, barely glancing up from the book he had decided to read after getting bored with working.

"So- Wait, how do you know all this?"

"I'm an agent of the FBI Scully..." he smirked and she raised an eyebrow skeptically at him, a look he had seen many times before, "I asked Agent Williams."

Scully tipped her chin and smiled. "Right. Well, maybe you should stop gathering gossip and actually do some work." For a moment she considered snatching the book from her partner's hands but thought against it when she saw his face light up after reading what she assumed was a big revelation.

Not closing his book fully, Mulder marked his page with his thumb and looked at Scully. "You know," he said, ignoring her past comment, " it's a lovely day, why don't I treat you to one of those no-fat, no-dairy, no-taste 'delissimo's that you love so much?" He left his book open, face down, and moved his feet from the desk they were propped on. Before Scully had opened her mouth he was grabbing his jacket and checking his pockets for money. She knew that to protest would be a losing battle and followed him out of the office.

 **~ The X Files ~**

When she finally caught up with him in the lobby of the FBI headquarters he had his jacket on and had stopped walking, staring again at another couple. "Let me guess," she sighed, "also having an affair."

He turned and faced her, smiling. "Wow Scully, I think you're really getting good at profiling." She smirked at him playfully before rolling her eyes. "No, they're just married." He added.

She felt herself rolling her eyes for the second time that minute. "I suppose you heard that from Agent Reece?" she laughed.

"Agent Simms." he corrected her, smugly.

She walked next to him silent for a moment. "Mulder, have you ever thought about how fast gossip travels in an office?" she asked, turning her head away from the ground and towards his face.

He looked ahead in thought for a moment before answering. "Yeah Scully, I have. I mean, how fast after you first started defending me did you hear people talk about our 'relationship'? " He said before ordering their ice creams.

"I, I always ignored all that but you're right." She stopped to collect her ice cream from Mulder. "I suppose it was very quickly after I sent in a report that agreed with yours."

They spent half an hour in the park eating their ice creams while sat on a bench. Eventually Mulder looked at Scully with an idea. "Scully, you like science, how about we do a little experiment..." She looked at him skeptically. "How about we trick people into thinking we're together and see how long it takes for someone to ask you?"

"Why wouldn't they ask you?" was the only response she could think of.

"Well no one really talks to me and you're a woman, women gossip. So, whatcha say Scully?"

She rolled her eyes but knew that she could have some fun with the idea and agreed.

On the walk back to their office they discussed what the 'experiment' would entail and, by the time they got back, a full plan had been made.

 **~ The X Files ~**

Scully took up her normal position on the desk and undid her topmost shirt button. Mulder, meanwhile, made a show of walking into the office after his partner while redoing his belt. When he got to the desk he whispered something into his partner's ear and in response she laughed flirtatiously. By this time heads were starting to turn towards them and this only upped the game for the two actors. Scully then got up and walked behind mulder on her way to the water cooler, deliberately running her fingers lightly across Mulder's shoulders and neck, causing him to shiver slightly. She laughed lightly before walking off. Mulder checked to see who was watching and when he realised the whole office were sneaking glances at them he felt his cheeks burn quite red.

This continued for another 3 days or so before another female agent said anything to Scully. She had been waiting outside Skinner's office when one Agent Sarah Roberts approached her. "Agent Scully right? Hi, I'm Sarah Roberts."

Scully sensed that her intentions were to do with Mulder. She pursed her lips but bit the bullet. "Hi, Dana."

"So, Dana, you work in The X Files with that Agent, what's his name?"

"Mulder. Agent Mulder."

"Yes yes... " Scully could see the question burning in the other agent's mind. "So, what's your opinion on interoffice relationships?"

Scully smiled. "I think, as long as they're kept away from work then they're fine."

"And you and Agent Mulder, does that interfere with work?"

 _Ahh_ , she thought, _there it was_. "What do you mean?" She asked innocently, a sweet smile plastered on her face.

"Oh well, I just thought, you know, since you and Agent Mulder and together, that you would experience a change in your work relationship."

Scully laughed. "We aren't together."

A confused Sarah spoke again. "You must be sleeping together at least?"

Fortunately for Scully, Skinner's door opened and she was waved in, allowing her to laugh and leave Sarah to process the previous conversation.

After talking to Skinner, Scully raced down to their (restored) basement office to see Mulder. "Mulder!" She exclaimed, still out of breath from running, "you were right!"

He turned to look at her slowly. "Of course I was, what about?"

"Us, rumours, gossip." She panted, "I just got asked about us by an Agent Roberts."

"Of course I was right." He smirked, "So, what did she say?"

She laughed. "She asked my opinion on interoffice relationships then said that you and I 'must be sleeping together at least'."

Mulder's eyes widened in curiosity. "What did you say?" He asked, having now fully spun his chair round to listen to his partner.

"I didn't, Skinner opened the door before I could answer." There was a pause as both agents thought on the day's events. "Mulder," she said, he looked up at her. "What are we going to do? I mean, the whole point of this was to prove to me that people think we're together. That's been proven so what do we do?"

Mulder sat in silence for a minute before looking thoughtfully at the red head in front of him. "Well if people think we're together and only one person's asked you, maybe we should see how far it goes?"

Scully returned the same thoughtful look. "I mean, there is the annual bureau party coming up, but that's as far as this goes." She said, sternly, before laughing.

Suddenly Mulder stood up off his chair and kneeled before her. "Scully," he said, a mischievous grin on his face, "would you do me the honour of letting me escort you to the party?"

She rolled her eyes and chuckled at him. "Of course."

 **~ The X Files ~**

It was the night of the party and Scully had just finished pining her hair up when she heard a knock at her door. She opened it to find her partner standing outside, a sheepish expression on his face. This however, quickly changed to shock as he took in Scully's outfit. "Wow, Scully…you look…" he trailed off, unable to speak.

Scully laughed. She was wearing a full length, figure hugging red dress with matching ruby inset jewellery. Her hair was in an elaborate updo complete with gold pins, shining out through her auburn hair. "Overdressed?" she said, half joking.

Mulder managed to compose himself again in time to reply. "No not at all. Scully you look amazing." He laughed to himself, "I was worried about which tie to wear yet you look…" Scully blushed and looked down.

"Thank you Mulder. Now, should we get going or did I get dressed up for nothing?" She laughed. Mulder took her arm and they made their way to the event.

When they arrived, both partners noticed that most eyes were on them. Evidently, news of their 'relationship' had spread and now even the more senior agents stared expectingly at the couple. "Mulder, they're staring at us." Scully whispered, slightly self conscious.

He chuckled, "It's great isn't it?" He quickly grabbed her hand and dragged her to a table round the main dance floor section of the hall. "C'mon, Scully don't tell me this isn't fun. I mean, everyone wondering about us, finally paying attention to us, this is what we wanted!"

Scully sighed, "No Mulder, it's what you always wanted." With that she turned on her heel and left. Mulder stared in vein at his partner, wondering what he did wrong.

 **~ The x Files ~**

Meanwhile Scully was at home, a bottle of wine open and the tv on. In between the glare of the screen and the white noise of the presenter, Scully thought of how the night had gone. The excitement she had felt while getting dressed, the nervousness that had gone through her body when she opened the door for Mulder, the shudder when he had grabbed her hand. _Oh no!_ She thought, _I can't, no, I don't have feelings for Mulder. I mean, Fox Mulder? Really?_ She took a rather large drink of wine. _Shit. I do._

Suddenly there was a knock at her door. Reluctantly she got up and answered it. It was Mulder. He pushed his way past her and stood patiently while she closed the door. "What do you want Mulder?" She asked, noticeably irritable.

Mulder sighed. "I'm sorry Scully. I'm sorry for everything, for tonight, for the past week, for dragging you round on my hopeless search for aliens. You're better than this and you deserve more than to be stuck following a lonely, crazy UFO enthusiast around."

"Mulder-" Scully tried to interrupt but Mulder wasn't finished.

"No Scully please, listen to me. I know you deserve better and so I've decided to put in a transfer request for you, all I'll need is your signature and I'll be out of your hair after next Monday. There's just one thing I want to say though, ya know, if I'm never gonna see you again." Scully inhaled quickly, her mind racing with all the possibilities the next few words held. "Scully I'm in love with you and I have been since I met you. You're smart and independent and honest and amazing. You put up with my moods and irrational logic and I feel that I can be myself around you. I'm sorry but if there was any chance I may never see you again, I had to tell you."

Scully took a deep breath. "Mulder, you don't have to transfer me. I'm happy being your partner." A silence fell upon them, urging her to answer the rest of his confession. "I do like you. I don't know how deep I feel but I definitely have feelings for you, it just took me this long to realise it. I won't sign the transfer form Mulder, not if it means being away from you." She took a step closer to him, his face changing to portray the hope he felt. With a quick glance to from her lips, to her eyes, reading her expression, and back to her lips, he closed the gap between them. Scully closed her eyes and wrapped her arms around Mulder's neck and head, kissing more passionately than she ever thought she could. Mulder took this as a good sign and let his hands settle in the small of her back, inching further and further down. Finally they broke the kiss and stood in each other's embrace. "Mulder."

He smiled and licked his lips. "Yeah?"

"Maybe this experiment of yours was worthwhile after all."

"Oh yeah? Maybe we need to test a few things…" He smirked and Scully found herself being lifted up into Mulder's arms. She laughed, wrapping her legs around him.

"Maybe we do.." She kissed him again as he carried her into her bedroom.

"Oh we definitely need to!" He laughed and closed the door behind them. Now the only thing on his mind was Scully, and, of course, the 'extra testing'…

* * *

 **A/N – So I wanted to apologise to any regular readers of mine for not posting a lot. I would say it's due to my GCSEs being in 4 weeks but in reality Ive just forgotten about writing. Anyway, I am trying to write more but this story had been on my laptop for about 6 months so I wouldn't hold out too much hope. I really am sorry. Thanks for reading and please review if there's any feedback or questions.**


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